


Heartbreaker

by LuckiestWitchAtHogwarts



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Pranks, Ruffnut is sick of snotlout's shit, Slow Burn Romance, bitta fluff, but like it'll go to far, hella angst maybe, so Tuff and ruff decide to break his heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2020-08-23 14:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20244115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckiestWitchAtHogwarts/pseuds/LuckiestWitchAtHogwarts
Summary: Inspired by a Rufflout video I saw a while ago, the background music was a Nightcore version of MARINA's How to Be a Heartbreaker and it really inspired me and I finally wrote it! Ruff has had enough of Snotlout's constant flirting so she and Tuffnut devise a plan to break his heart.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a quiet morning in Berk, the day before the plan was formed. Too quiet, if Ruffnut was the authority on it (which, according to the Chief, she and her brother were). Hiccup and Astrid were out flying, scouting for islands around to relocate new dragons; Fishlegs and Meatlug were making Gronkle iron for the Edge; Snotlout was… well, she didn’t know where he was.

Until he popped up behind her.

“Hey, babe! Been looking for me? I know you have.”

Ruffnut bit back a scream, as she spun around and punched his shoulder.

“What the Hel, Snotlout! Don’t _ever_ sneak up behind a Viking!” She turned back around and stalked off.

He actually looked nervous, raising his hands in defeat. “Haha, whatever you want babe!” He started jogging to catch up with her. “What are we doing today?”

Ruffnut stopped in her tracks, turning to meet him. “_I,_” she poked his chest with a long finger, “am training with Tuffnut. I don’t care what _yo_\- mrff!”

Apparently, Snotlout thought this was the best opportunity he could get to lean in and kiss her.

As quick as it had started, it was over, as Tuffnut had come up behind his sister and _launched_ at Snotlout, throwing punches anywhere he could before being thrown off by Ruffnut.

“Bro! I can handle this _myself_!”

“Tuff, what was that for?!”

Tuffnut simply grabbed his sister’s arm and stormed towards the arena.

As they neared the arena, Ruffnut started to dig her heels into the ground. “You know you can let go now, I can walk by myself! Why’re you so mad anyway? I handled it well enough until _you_ came along!” Ruffnut spoke indignantly. Tuffnut turned to her, still gripping her arm. “You’re my twin, I have to be mad about it. What are you going to do about it?”

“About what?”

Tuffnut rolled his eyes. “About _Snotlout_, muttonhead. Obviously.”

“Well, since _you_ care so much, how about _you_ come up with a plan?”

His eyes narrowed and lips turned up into a smirk.

“Why, my dear sister, I’ve already got one.”

* * *

“Listen up! There are four, simple rules to making sure this works out right.”

Tuffnut had cleaned off a blackboard, then numbered four columns with a bit of chalk. Ruff was sitting on a rock in front of him, a notebook on her lap opened to the first page.

“First one, obviously, have fun with this. Be as natural as possible, BUT, if he gets suspicious or you go _soft_ and don’t want to do this anymore, cut all ties.”

Ruffnut scoffed as she finished writing. “Soft, me? What a load of dragon dung.”

“Secondly, do NOT get attached to this. This one speaks for itself.”

They both laughed. “Obviously.”

“Rule number three, show emotion, but not too much, but like enough so-“

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Make it look believable,” she nodded as she wrote it down.

“And the final rule, if you’re going to do this prop-”

“Get on with it so we can start training!”

“Alright, alright, just act all innocent but at the same time, make him expect more.”  
  
“What, so I have to like, kiss him and stuff?”

“Do you _want _this to work, Ruff? Yes, you have to kiss him!”

Ruffnut’s face soured. “Ugh, pranking Snotlout is so… hard! Why do I have to do everything?”

“Uh, _excuse me_, but I will have to pretend that this is normal for you! Do you know how hard that’s going to be?”

“Whatever! Are we done? We need to start training.”

“Yes, we are! Operation Heartbreaker is a go.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You remember what you have to do?”

“Yeah, yeah, invite him to sit next to me in the Great Hall for breakfast,” Ruffnut groaned.

“Then on a training flight, th-”

“I remember the plan, alright?!” Ruffnut’s outburst caught the attention of a few wary villagers nearby, wondering what Loki-invoking prank they were planning now and the nearest hiding place from it.

“Good. Great! Here he comes now!” Tuffnut exclaimed as he spun his twin around by her shoulders, as Snotlout strolled up to them.

“Ah, lovely morning isn’t it, guys?”

“Yeah it’s great! What was it you were saying Ruff?”

Cringing internally, Ruffnut stuttered out, “Come sit next to me for breakfast, Snotlout.”

Snotlout froze, and looked between the two, with Tuffnut’s grin and Ruffnut’s pale face, one eye _almost_ twitching, before laughing, “Sure babe! Let’s go now,” and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the Hall.

“Why is everyone dragging me everywhere!” She cried out as Tuffnut trailed behind them.

* * *

“Hey Snotlout, would you come train with me after breakfast?”

Fishleg’s hand froze with his spoon halfway between his bowl and mouth; Hiccup and Astrid tore their eyes from each other to stare at Ruffnut; Snotlout glanced at her and Tuffnut was just trying not to laugh.

“Don’t you need to work on-”

“Yeah but like it would help if you were there to observe us, and like give us feedback,” she explained, batting her eyelashes at him.

_Well, Loki be damned, she might be able to do this_, Tuffnut thought.

Snotlout, now openly staring at her, simply asked, “Are you okay?”

Her eyes slightly widened, stealing a quick glance at her brother, who gave the tiniest of a head shake, before replying, “Yeah I’m fine, why?”

Snotlout took a moment to respond. “It’s probably nothing… yeah sure I’ll come out with you guys.”

Exhaling with relief, she brushed a braid over her shoulder. “It’s a date then!”

The table froze up once again, though the jingle of Astrid’s wallet to pass Hiccup a few gold pieces was heard accompanied by a grumble from both she and Fishlegs, as he dropped his spoon in his bowl.

“Are you ready to leave now, or-”

“Yeah sure, Tuff let’s go,” Ruffnut said and she grabbed Snotlout’s hand and started for the doors. Snotlout just stared at their joined hands bewildered, sending questioning glances to the rest of the table, but they just shook their heads.

* * *

“Tuff, can you leave us alone for a minute?”

He shrugged and went ahead to his and Ruffnut’s house to prepare for lunch.

“Ruffnut, why the sudden change? You and Tuffnut literally beat me up yest-”

“I know we did, and I’m sorry,”_ no I’m not_, “but I was just thinking really… I don’t want to live the rest of my life as the last single woman on Berk, but you and Fishlegs were the last two single men, and I felt the answer was obvious,” She took both his hands and leaned in slightly, “You already are one of my closest friends,” she finished, giving him a kiss on the cheek, before turning and running to catch up with Tuffnut. She failed to notice Snotlout’s entire face reddening, staring into space and stuttering nonsense.

* * *

“Wow, you’re a better actor than I thought!”

“Hahaha, I know right? Better than I thought too! Your plan is working perfectly, Tuff!”

“Obviously it is, I’m the one who came up with it,” he smirked, punching Ruffnut in the shoulder.

“Hey!” Ruffnut launched at Tuffnut, punching any place she could reach before he flipped her over, lay across her back and held her down.

“Surrender!”

“Never!” Ruffnut cried while laughing, as Tuffnut got up anyway, laughing as well. He held out a hand to help her up, which she gratefully took, and pulled him into a hug.

“Love you, brother. Don’t ever change.”

“And don’t _you_ ever change either.”

* * *

The more Ruffnut thought about it, the worse she felt. She couldn’t help being the last single woman on Berk (she could, but she felt that wasn’t the point). She was just sick of Snotlout always hitting on her and she could see if was annoying Tuffnut as well. But now, her stupid feelings had to get in the way and make her feel bad about it. Tuffnut wouldn’t really think she was weak, but she didn’t want to risk it. She has to keep this façade up, or she will get her heart broken too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my Tumblr @theluckiestwitchathogwarts !  
I definitely squealed multiple times while writing this oh my god fluffffffffffff

“Out of curiousity, how long do I have to keep this up?”

“As long as it takes for him to completely fall for you, Ruff. What, are you _weak?_”

“Loki, Tuff, you know I’m not weak! I was just-”

“Look, he’s com- he’s coming to the house? Oh my _gods_, Ruff, he has a _flower_!”

They both ducked down from their bedroom window, holding their breath as they waited to hear his footsteps on the porch. His usually heavy footsteps sounded lighter as he stepped up onto the porched, paused, then some shuffling around was hear.

“Gods, would you like to come in already? You’re wearing out a hole in my porch!”

The twins froze, their eyes wide, not expecting their _mother_ to answer the door.

“O-Oh hi, Mrs. Thorston. Is Ruffnut home?”

“Ooh, you’ve come to see just her, now have yeh? And this flower here, that’s for her too, is it?”

“Uh, yes ma’am. Is… is that okay?”

Mrs. Thorston chuckled, before calling, “Ruffnut, get down here!”

The twins jumped from their crouched positions, looked at each other, Tuffnut with a manical grin and Ruffnut with a pale face and wide eyes, before she called, “Coming, Mother!”

As she moved to get up, Tuffnut grabbed her arm, tugging it slightly, and whispered, “_Don’t screw this up. You’re not weak._”

Fear sank in her stomach like a yak in the middle of the archipelago’s oceans. “_I’m not weak, Tuff._” She yanked her arm from his grip and continued downstairs.

Her eyes flew to the flower first, a lily-of-the-valley.

“How did-”

“You mentioned it was your favourite a while ago.”

_He remembered my favourite flower? _Ruffnut was stunned and didn’t move until her mother coughed.

“Well, you’re both heading out now aren’t ye? Run off before you wear a hole in my kitchen too!”

She herded them both out with a hand on the small of their backs and watched as they awkwardly walked away from the house.

* * *

“So, why did you come around to the house?”

“I…” He didn’t meet her eyes. “I wanted to apologise for what I did the other day.”

Once again, Ruffnut stopped, stunned. “Apologise? You don’t apologise for anything, ever.”

“I-I know, but it wasn’t right, and I know that now.”

She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed. “Snotlout, look at me. Did Hiccup write this little speech for you?”

“Hey! I don’t need anyone’s help to be sentimental and all that!”

“No one would know, you never seem to care about anyone but yourself!”

“Well I care about you, alright?!” Everyone in the area stopped to stare at the two, who had moved closer to each other and were breathing heavily. Snotlout shoved the flower into her hand and said, “I’m sorry, okay? I really do care about you,” before walking away.

“Hey, wait up!” She started jogging to catch up with him. “I’m sorry too. You just… this is something Hiccup would do for Astrid. Why are you trying to be like him?”

“I’m not trying to be like him.” They stopped at the edge of the woods. “I just… people expect me to turn out like my _father_,” he spat out like the word was poisonous, “but I’m not him.”

“No, you’re not.” Ruffnut actually felt bad for him. She knew his father was strict, but she couldn’t imagine the full extent he experiences at home. Without thinking, she leaned in and hugged him.

“I’m here for you, okay?”

She could feel his muscles tense slightly, before he relaxed and curled his arms tightly around her. They stood for a while, just holding each other, when the sun began to set. Brilliant oranges and yellow streaked the sky over them as they released. Ruffnut instantly missed the warmth surrounding her. _No… no, I’m not weak. I don’t miss it. He _deserves _this_, she told herself.

“Walk me home?” She held out her hand to him.

He smiled softly, and took her hand with an equal gentleness. “Of course.”

The village was starting to quieten down as they walked through it towards Ruffnut’s house, hand in hand. They too remained quiet, just enjoying each other’s company. As they approached her house, Ruffnut glanced up to her and Tuffnut’s bedroom, noticing him making ridiculous kissing faces and pointing at them both. She rolled her eyes and gave a subtle nod, as he backed away from the window. By now, Snotlout had loosened his hand and just tangled his fingers between hers.

They stepped up onto the porch, finally releasing their hands from each other’s.

“Thank you for the flower, Snotlout… I didn’t have a bad time today, even if no dragons were involved.”

He laughed softly. “Thank you, for caring about me, Ruffnut.”

Ruffnut didn’t miss that he had stepped closer to her. _Time to finish this_.

She grabbed his face, and pressed her lips on his. As Snotlout started to kiss her back, she pulled away, mumbled a quick goodbye and slipped inside, before he could watch the first tear fall.

_Well, I’ve already broken Rules 1 and 2. I’m so, _so _weak._

* * *

“Tuff, are you awake?”

He grumbled and turned over. “Well, I am now. What’s wrong?”

“I…” _Why are you so crazy about this plan? Do you really know what Snotlout has to deal with? Why he acts like that? _She turned back over. “It’s nothing.”

“Whatever then. Goodnight,” he replied, then turned back over himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I 100% squealed so many times writing this, I really wish there was more fluffy content like this for rufflout in the fandom!! I hope you enjoy!  
Also hi here's my headcanon that Snotlout is actually terrified of heights

After a horrible night’s sleep, tossing and turning over her brother’s words, Ruffnut decided to ditch training and have fun. She made her way to Snotlout’s house, and pounded her fist against the door as the sun broke over the horizon.

“Shut up, shut up, what do-” Snotlout, rubbing his eyes, finally glanced at Ruffnut and froze. 

The sunlight shone upon her face, giving her the glow of a warrior in Valhalla. His eyes widened by a fraction and the corners of his lips lifted into a smile as she gushed about something, barely listening to her words.

“Oi! Did you hear me?”

He shook himself from his daze and lowered his eyes, mumbling, “You’re so beautiful.”

“What was that?”

“Oh, um, just that you woke me up and I didn’t hear you.”

“Oh. Alright. Well, let’s go flying today, like right now. Go change.”

Rubbing his eyes again, Snotlout went back inside and shut the door. Ruffnut sat on the stairs of the Jorgenson house porch and leant her chin on her hand, propping her elbow up on her knee. 

_Beautiful..._

She supposed she wasn’t _hideous_, but she couldn’t quite point out the features that made her beautiful, not like Astrid with her flaxen hair that moved like silk, and her icy blue eyes holding the wisdom of all the gods combined, and the way she captivates a room just with a glance and-

“You wanna go now?”

She turned her head to stare up at Snotlout.

“You think I’m beautiful?”

His eyes widened, the skin on his cheekbones blushing ever so slightly, before he shrugged and said, “Who doesn’t?”

She stood up, staring at him with an eyebrow raised before lowering her gaze and turning, saying somewhat dejectedly, “Let’s just go.”

“Aren’t we going to get Tuff and your dragon?”

“Nah, I just wanna ride with you today. I’m kinda fighting with him again.”

“Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” She felt his hand hovering over her shoulder, hesitating before lowering it, but shrugged it off. He didn’t say anything, but she could feel his hurt. 

“Maybe some other time.”

Hookfang had heard their voices coming closer and was ready to go, even bouncing from side to side after quickly eating the breakfast Snotlout tossed to him. Snotlout opened the gate and the Nightmare tore through it, his wing knocking Ruffnut into him. Ruffnut wobbled backwards, almost hitting the ground before strong arms wrapped around her middle. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” Her flat tone told Snotlout that she was done talking for a while, so he jumped up into Hookfang’s saddle and held a hand out for her to mount behind him. She took it, wrapping both arms around his waist and lacing her fingers in with his. 

“Ruffnut, I kinda need both hands to steer...”

“Right...” She let go of his hand, sliding it down slightly to give his arm room to move and leant her cheek against his back. 

Once they were high enough over Berk, Snotlout glanced back at her and, with a soft smile, placed a hand over her thigh. Ruffnut looked up, saying, “Don’t you need that to steer?”

“We’re high enough now, and Hooky wouldn’t do something stupid while you’re here.”

As Hookfang levelled out, she replied, “You wanna see something stupid?”

“What-”

She scooted back along the dragon’s long neck, placed her helmet behind her on his back, crossed her legs and swung over the side, reaching for the clouds below her. Snotlout, looking back at her in confusion, paled the moment she took her helmet off and, flailing, reached an arm back trying to grab her. 

“WOOOOOOOO!!!”

“What the Hel are you doing?! Get back up here Ruffnut!” Snotlout’s voice was a mix of fear and impressed, but Ruffnut wasn’t done. 

“I don’t think I’m strong enough!” Ruffnut called back teasingly. 

“Argh!” With one arm on his dragon’s horn, he reached down to grab her arm and pull it back up before she pulled him down with her. 

“What- AHHHHH!!”

Just in time, he crossed his legs and wrapped one arm around Hookfang’s neck and the other clutching his helmet. Thankfully, for his sake, he had let go of Hookfang’s horn in time. 

“WHAT ARE WE DOING, RUFF?”

“What, don’t guys like you like to have a little fun?”

“THIS IS SO DANGEROUS!!”

“Same thing! Hookfang, can you drop by the nearest sea stack so we can get up again?”

Hookfang, beady eyes alert, dove below the clouds again and quickly found a large sea stack where he gently lowered them.

“Odin, Ruff, don’t do that again! That was-”

“Exhilarating? Yeah it was!”

Snotlout stood up, shaking, and wrapped his arms around Ruffnut. 

“You terrify me, please don’t do that again.”

“Aw c’mon, it wasn’t that bad. What are you, afraid of falling?”

“I’m not scared of anything, I’m a Jorgenson!”

“Then why is hanging from Hookfang’s neck flying in the arena any different to out here? You know he’ll catch you either way.”

She placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him away gently to look at him, but he couldn’t meet her eyes. 

“Why don’t I help you get over this fear? You’ll have a lot more fun if you do.”

“I’m not scared but...” He took a deep breath. “Sure.” He looked up at her, almost in awe of... everything. _She’s so brave, too brave. I’m not worthy of her, I never was..._

It wasn’t until her nose was almost touching his and he could feel her breath ghosting over his face that his thoughts stopped, and he heard her ask, “Can I...?”

Without answering, he met her lips gently, almost asking her if it’s what she really wants, to which she deepened it in reply. His arms that were wrapped around her now gently curled her waist and her hands lovingly cupped his cheeks.

_Gods, I think I’m in love with him. _

* * *

And so their routine started. Everyday, Ruffnut would go to wake up Snotlout just before dawn and they would fly out around their sea stack. The first day, Snotlout tried to back out of flying upside down with her, until she was already twisted underneath Hookfang and tried to grab her arm again. The next day, he placed his helmet between Hookfang’s horns and crossed his legs so tight Hookfang decided to throw the helmet off, making Snotlout scream and go after it, Ruffnut still hanging by her legs and screaming in delight. Day three proved to be better for him, as Snotlout turned around in the saddle to face Ruffnut and helped her hands as she swung them both downwards. He bit back a scream, clenching her hands as tight as he could and held his eyes shut. Over the wind rushing in his ears, he heard Ruffnut scream, “You’re doing it!” before kissing him hard and pulling back as he tried to deepen it, forgetting where he was.

His eyes flew open and all he could see below him was the open sky, clouds dancing with the sun and the water shining, dotted with sea stacks. Next to Ruffnut, it was the most beautiful sight he’d seen.

_Gods, I’m in love with her._

After working on Snotlout’s fear, they would settle on their rock in the sea stack and have breakfast before heading back to Berk and starting their work. Snotlout would sneak some bread and cheese from the kitchen and Ruffnut cooked whatever meat she could find, also packing a canteen of water for them to share. Occasionally they would arrive home late, but all Tuffnut did was smile, making Ruffnut uneasy.

Ruffnut realised she had to make a choice soon. At this point, she’s playing her brother more than Snotlout, if she’s playing him at all at this point. Only a week later did the heartbreaker become heart broken.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for leaving this for so long! Had a lot of stress this past month coupled with writer's block so not a fun time. Hope y'all enjoy!

"Do you think having emotions makes you weak?"

A week after she woke him up, Ruffnut and Snotlout had finished their morning flight and were busy having breakfast, but at her tentative question, Snotlout spat out a bit of water.

"Ruff, since we've been together, I've never felt stronger. Why would you ask that?"

"Hmmm." Her eyes fell, then stared out to sea, and went pretty much everywhere but his face.

"Ruff, look at me."

"I..."

She sighed. "Why though?"

"Why what?"

"Why do I make you feel strong?"

"That's... hard to explain."

She crossed her arms. "Will you try?"

He paused for a moment, weighing up his walls and his vulnerability in his mind, before speaking, "Ruff, I feel like if you stayed by my side, I could take on Viggo himself. I could take on anyone, because I can always rely on you. Just your smile can uplift my entire day. You aren't afraid to say anything, do anything, you're just... you."

Tears were welling in her eyes and her entire face had gone red, but she turned to face away from him and said, "Can..." she sniffed, "Can we please go?"

"Did I say anything wrong?"

She stood and faced him again, a few tears falling across her rosy cheeks. "You said everything _right_! But... but I don't..."

"You don't... what?"

She froze, and before she could stop herself, she mumbled, "I don't think my brother would agree," and looked away.

It was quiet, but Snotlout heard it loud and clear, and his expression darkened.

"What did he say to you?"

"I don't-"

"What did he say, Ruffnut?"

He stood up, bringing a hand to her chin and turned it to face him.

"It's okay. You know you can trust me, don't you?"

She took his hand in hers and sighed.

"I know, and I do. But I... don't want to get you involved. It's not your problem to deal with." She wrapped her arms around him, leaning her chin on his shoulder. "Thank you, though."

He squeezed her back, then said, "Do you still want to leave or do you want to stay a few minutes more?"

She wrapped her arms tighter around him and mumbled into his ear, "Just a few minutes more."

And so they stayed, just holding each other for a ten or so minutes before he gently nudged her and said, "I hope you haven't fallen asleep on me here," waiting for her derisive snort then continuing, "Let's head back to Berk now." She nodded silently and let him lead her back to Hookfang, where she held onto his waist and leant her cheek against him the whole way home.

* * *

Snotlout waited until Ruffnut was far out of sight, heading back to her house to change before running towards the arena to get a word in with a certain twin before his sister showed up. He knew he might widen the strange rift that was between them, but he felt the need to protect her, not only as her… _boyfriend_… but as any good friend would do. He just never thought he would have to defend her from her _brother._

He reached the arena, stopping to catch his breath shortly before peeking in to make sure he was there. Sure enough, Tuffnut was practicing sword techniques on a poor mannequin, looking like it had seen better days. Catching him off guard, Snotlout called out, "Oi, Tuffnut!"

He spun around, taking an immediate defensive stance with the sword before relaxing minutely. "Snotlout. What do you want?"

"There's a whole list of things I want, but to start with I _want _you to stop putting yak dung in your sister's head."

"What do you mean, _yak dung_? What has she been telling you?"

"I had to pry out of her what she meant when she asked me if I thought having emotions makes us weak. Having emotions makes us _human_, Tuffnut. And it sure as Hel makes me stronger to love her."

There was a heavy silence before he heard two voices simultaneously.

"You love her?"

"You love me?"

His face drained of colour and his jaw dropped and he turned to face her, who mirrored his expression. Whether she was quick to change or he was slow to get to the arena, he was _screwed._

* * *

She was _screwed_.

She knew she heard quick, heavy footsteps in the opposite direction as she reached her house. Unfortunately for Snotlout, her hearing was perfect, almost supersonic, which was surprising with how loud she and her brother are. She _knew _he was heading to confront her brother, but all she could do was change her gear as quickly as Viking-ly possible and rushing to the arena.

"…makes us _human_, Tuffnut. And it sure as Hell makes me stronger to love her."

Love. A simple four letter word that may has well been a physical being that tore the rift between her and her beloved brother even wider. How did a prank end like this? Go this far?

"You love me?"

Blood was rushing in her ears and she couldn't hear anything but her own words and her eyes only focused on Snotlout, the one who _loved her_. Tears pricked at her eyes as she looked past him to Tuffnut, whose jaw had dropped significantly and conflict was heavy in his eyes as he flicked them between the two. She shook her head quickly, desperately, but-

"She doesn't love you, this was a joke."

-the ball dropped, and the silence before? Only the ringing in their ears were heard now.

"…what?"

"Tell him, Ruffnut."

He looked her in the eyes, his mouth set in a thin line, disappointment clouding his expression. Snotlout, however, looked at her with pure desperation, pleading with her silently that it wasn't true.

"I-I… it, S-Snotlout-"

"Operation Heartbreaker. You have the notes, don't you?" Tuffnut's voice broke into her head, the pace with which he spoke quickening with each poisonous word that broke Snotlout's heart a little further.

"O… Operation _what_?"

It took everything in her and more to not run away, not face the truth just yet, but she knew it would hurt and confuse him even more. So she squeezed her eyes shut, and spoke, "Operation Heartbreaker. Four rules to protect me while I broke your heart so you didn't try to pursue me anymore."

"You two..." Snotlout's eyes flew between them, glistening with building tears before he moved to leave, hurrying past them both, leaving them to stare at each other. Ruffnut, giving Tuffnut a scathing glare, turned to run after Snotlout.

"I didn't think it would get this far!"

"You clearly didn't think at all, not about anyone but yourself!" He turned around, anger hiding behind the tears that slowly fell down his face.

"I know you're not wrong, but-"

"But _nothing_, Ruffnut. I actually fell in love with you. You can't say the same?"

It was a challenge, because he knew that she loved him too. A challenge to face her feelings and forget this stupid plan, and maybe he would forget it too.

"I-I... At least I think I do..."

His eyes fell to the ground, and he wordlessly turned and walked away.

"You think you love him too?"

Ruffnut turned to face her brother.

"No, I _know_ I do. This was a stupid thing to do, Tuff. But I love him."

"S-So what now? You're gonna go follow him, a-and make up and then be together and leave me?"

She was confused before realisation dawned on her, then her vision went red with anger. Storming up to him, fists raised to hit him, she screamed, "_That's_ what this whole thing was about? Are you _stupid_?" Knocking him over with a tackle, she swung and hit any part of him she could reach. "_Why_ in Odin's name would I leave you? You're my _twin __brother_!" Her punches grew weaker as she finally gave in are starting sobbing, wrapping her arms around him instead, who in turn circled her waist with his, digging his head into her shoulder and crying as well.

"I'll never leave you. Not now, not ever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's the tea, y'all. I estimate maybe two more chapters after this? Stay tuned and check out my Tumblr: @theluckiestwittchathogwarts !


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back sisters  
ok but for real I had a lot of writers block after the last chapter when I tried working on TLO and it just wasn't coming to me so I had written like 3/4 of this chapter then left it for two months but she's back! there's maybe one more chapter after this then Heartbreaker is done!

Training the next day started after breakfast, to which everyone was on time but Snotlout. Hiccup was surprised that the twins were punctual, but as they waited, and waited, and waited for Snotlout to arrive for almost an hour, he grew annoyed and called for training to start without him. He didn’t miss the twins sharing uneasy glances during the hour.

Snotlout also failed to show up for dinner at their usual time.

“I think I’ll go check up on him,” Hiccup excused himself, taking a bowl of yak stew with him. Not 20 minutes passed before Hiccup returned, riding atop Toothless. “So, he didn’t want to see me,” he said as he held out his metal leg, now badly misshapen. “I don’t suppose you would want to go, Ruff?” A knowing look in his eye told the twins he did in fact speak with Snotlout, and to go and solve it already before they left for the Edge the next day.

“This is my problem, so I’ll fix it,” Ruffnut mumbled to Tuffnut, pushing her brother back down by the shoulder as he rose to go with her. “I’ll be back, maybe,” she spoke up louder to the group.

Pushing the doors of the Great Hall open, Ruffnut stepped into the chilly air, only the light of the moon to guide the way. Almost shivering as she approached the Jorgenson hut, she was grateful they built it close to the Great Hall, and that she saw both of Snotlout’s parents getting dinner so she knew he was alone.

Knocking on the door, she called out, “Snotlout? I know you’re in there, please let me in, it’s cold!” Knocking turned to pounding her fist on the door as he ignored her before she decided to let herself in.

The first floor of the hut was dark, with squares of moonlight shining in through the windows by the stairs. Dark huts always gave Ruffnut a weird sense of loneliness and fear, so she crept silently to the stairs, making her way up the sides to the second floor where Snotlout’s bedroom was.

“Snotlout? I need to talk to you…” The quiet sniffling she had heard by the end of the hall stopped. “G-Go away… you don’t have a metal leg but Hookfang will do something…”

“He wouldn’t do anything,” she rolled her eyes. She continued towards his room but froze as she heard two sets of boots enter the hut, and the door creaked as the intruders closed it behind them.

Her eyes widened as she used the tips of her toes to creep towards his room silently, closed it behind her and held a hand over his mouth in the span of five seconds. She almost retracted her hand as the greasy texture of the stew was still surrounding his mouth. “Don’t say anything. Someone’s here,” she said, barely whispering.

She flicked her eyes from Snotlout’s red rimmed ones over to Hookfang, who was watching them from outside the window, and whispered at a slightly higher volume, “Hookfang, go check who’s downstairs, please.” Hearing her serious tone, he moved back from the window and ducked his head around the side.

Muffled behind Ruffnut’s hand, Snotlout said, “It’s probably just my parents.”

“If it were your parents, they wouldn’t be quiet, would they?”

Snotlout’s brow furrowed, and he pushed Ruffnut’s hand away from him. “What do you want from me now, Ruffnut?” He spoke loudly, almost shouting as she tried to shush him. “Trying to scare me, or do you reckon you did enough damage and now Hiccup wants you to fix it? I’m not going back to the Edge, alright?”

“Well, there’s no Dragon’s Edge for you to go back to anymore.” Both Snotlout and Ruffnut froze and alarm bells rang as she realised Hookfang didn’t come back.

“V-Viggo… what are you doing here?”

“Oh come on now, did you think a little week away from home to, well, another home, would put our little game on pause? I’m always one step ahead.”

Two men entered the room from behind Viggo and quickly bound them together back-to-back, then dragged them by the rope out of the house, making sure to detour them by Hookfang, who had a few dragon root-laced arrows sticking out of his side. “Hookfang…” she heard Snotlout whisper from behind her. As they reached the slope down to the docks, an idea dawned on Ruffnut as she let out a guttural howl. _Please let them hear it…_

“What on Odin’s Earth was that?” Viggo demanded as he backhanded her.

“Don’t touch her!"

“Or what? What will you do? From where I’m standing, you two are _powerless_."

“Wow, who stole your mutton? Usually it’s all, ‘Oh Hiccup, I do enjoy our talks!’”

Despite the sting on her cheek, Ruffnut snorted. Trust Snotlout to make some kind of joke out of the dangerous situation at hand. She promptly shut up when she heard him grunt with pain as he received his own slap from Viggo.

She could just make out the sound of beating wings as Viggo shouted at his men onboard the ship. She turned her head as far as she could muttering, “When they get here, crouch down with me. There’s a knife in my boot. I’ll cut us free, but you have to be the first to run.”

First to run, Tuffnut had said something like that almost two weeks ago. Funny how the tables have turned now.

“What? No, I’m not leaving you. They’ll just take you-”

“I’m not stupid, Tuffnut and I had a plan in place just in case this happened. That wasn’t a dragon call I made before.”

* * *

Saying goodnight to each other, the group made to part as they left the Great Hall, but froze hearing an animalistic scream. Tuffnut felt his stomach drop, whispering, “Ruff…” before throwing himself into action and turned back to the group, “Get your dragons. Ruffnut’s in trouble,” then turned again and ran for Barf and Belch, who came running for him as they had heard the scream as well. Mounting Belch, he reached over and patted Barf’s head. “We’ll get her back.”

Riding back to the Great Hall in seconds, Tuffnut explained. “Ruffnut came up with this plan since she was taken by the Hunters a while ago. We came up with this new call, not for our dragon but for each other, in case we were in trouble and whoever was with them knew dragons but couldn’t be trusted. I think Viggo has her.”

Fishlegs spoke up, “I think he has Snotlout too, cause Hookfang called out for me while I was running, he had a few dragon root arrows in him. He seemed to recover quickly after I removed them though; it must’ve a weak batch.”

“Tuff, this is your plan, what do we do?”

“You guys stay on the ground. They’ll think it’s a dragon call and look for us up there, so if it’s only one of us they won’t suspect a ground ambush. Do you mind if I borrow Toothless?”

“Toothless, you’re with Tuffnut. The rest of you, walk with your dragons to the docks, and make sure they stay behind you. This is a stealth mission, everyone!”

Toothless trotted up to Tuffnut, nudging him with his snout before Tuffnut hopped on. “You’re right T, they’re fine. They’ll be fine.”

Toothless leapt into the sky, soaring far up over the village before Tuffnut nudged him forward towards the docks. “Glide and hover, T. We need to be silent,” Tuffnut leant forward and whispered, and Toothless obeyed. Spreading out his wings, Toothless balanced over the cliff and Tuffnut leant further forward to see Ruffnut and Snotlout tied back-to-back, Viggo shouting to the men on his ship. “I see them Toothless. Let’s go.”

Tuffnut nudged him up, higher over the ship so that the cover of night could hide them. On the far side of the ship, Tuffnut could see Viggo direct one of his men to where Ruffnut and Snotlout were standing. “Aim for the mast, T. _Now!_”

Toothless let out a blue-hot fireball that flew towards the ship, hitting the base of the mast. Wood chips flew in all directions as Toothless and Tuffnut flew down towards the ship and let out another, hitting the starboard-side hull. Out of the corner of his eye, Tuffnut could see Snotlout and Ruffnut bent down, and-

The force of metal hit his body, crashing it into Toothless’ and he felt all of the air leave his body as he fell. Toothless roared, twisting and flailing as the metal net dragged them down and they sunk into the dark sea. Tuffnut thought he could hear his sister scream out before he blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so I did say this would be the last chapter but....  
nope

Watching Tuffnut fall into the water with a splash almost tore Ruffnut apart. No, scratch that- she could feel her very soul being torn into a million pieces. She felt detached from her body, raising her hands to cover her mouth only to realise that the horrible sound filling the air was her own screaming. Calloused hands held her back from her mindless lurch forward towards her brother. Whipping around with fury across her face, she met the horrified and pitying gaze of Snotlout.

“I know, but we need to go, _now_, if we want to save him.”

“That’s my-“

“I know-“

“I can’t live without him, Snotlout, I can’t.”

“I know, Ruff. But if we want any chance at saving him, we need to run, now.”

The only thing on her mind was her brother as Snotlout throws her over his shoulder, spinning on his heel and immediately making his way back up the hill.

“Snotlout, Ruffnut! Are you two okay?” Hidden in the shadows of the cliffs, Hiccup called to them.

“We’re fine, but Tuffnut and Toothless were captured.”

Blood drained from Hiccup’s face as Astrid placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Thor… what are we going to do?”

“We need to tell your dad first, Hiccup. He might know what to do.”

“No. This is something we- _I _deal with.”

“Ruffnut, my _dragon_-“

“-is with _my _brother, who got his stupid ass captured because of _me! _How do you think I’m feeling right now, Hiccup?”

“Probably just as bad as I’m feeling!”

“Shut up, both of you, unless you want us _all _to get caught!” Astrid slapped a hand over both of their mouths, shocking them both. “We will get them back, but we need to plan first. We’re going to have to revise that whole screaming thing after this, okay?” Seeing them both calm down, or at least not hyperventilating anymore, Astrid removed her hands from Ruffnut and Hiccup’s faces, and moved between them to stare at the boat from the edge of the walkway.

“Whatever we do, we can’t do anything that will get Tuffnut or Toothless hurt.”

* * *

Tuffnut groaned as another punch flew through his cheek, his shoulder, his stomach, bruising every inch of his body. He felt battered and broken, but he knew his sister was coming for him. Another punch hit his face, and he felt his left eye swell. His breathing was shallow, his dreadlocks matted with blood, but he knew his sister was coming. He told them as such, and he heard laughter before another punch landed, knocking him out.

* * *

“Think about it! If they think they could aim the net lower, we could manoeuvre around them easier!”

“And you’re sure you won’t fall off?"

“Snotlout and I have practiced this. We aren’t going to fall.”

“Fine.”

Ruffnut managed to convince an apprehensive Astrid to let them fly. Upside down, of course, in crazy twin fashion. Snotlout felt just as anxious, unsure if he would be able to stay on in this time of trouble.

“We won’t fall, okay? And you’ve done this with a bow before!”

“I know, but-“

“We need to do this. We can do this. We-“

“Ruffnut, I love you. What if we lose you too?”

“I-“

“I _can’t _lose you.”

“Shut up. I love you too.”

“At least you think you do.”

“I know I do.” Ruffnut bent to kiss him gently, but enough to send a message. _This isn’t the last one_. “Armour up. We gotta go.”

* * *

“Wake up. It’s time to talk.”

“Ugh…”

Tuffnut’s head lolled left to right as he raised it from where it was hanging over the back of the chair he was now strapped to. His head was pounding and he still couldn’t see out of his left eye. Breathing hurt, his back hurt, gods, everything _hurt _like Hel.

“I’m done playing games, boy. Where is it?”

“Usually, I- _wheeze _have to know what- _wheeze _‘it’ is to- _wheeze _tell you where ‘it’ is.”

“Clearly, beaten within an inch of your life _isn’t _enough.”

“N-No, I-"

“The _Dragon Eye lens_, you useless chunk of off mutton. I know your little group of riders found another one.”

“Well if we- _wheeze _have, then Hiccup- _wheeze _hasn’t told us yet.”

“Liar.” A thick hand smacked him, tipping his chair to the side before it regained balance. The wooden legs slammed back onto the floor under Tuffnut’s weight which, in his damaged state, almost sent him swinging onto the other side.

“Please, I- _wheeze _I don’t know!”

Breathing became harder as his tears mixed with the dirt, swear and blood on his skin. 

“Aw, look at this, fellas.” Viggo strolled up to Tuffnunt’s chair, kicking up and balancing his foot against Tuffnut’s chest. “Sounds like the poor Viking is _begging_.” And with that, Viggo kicked, sending Tuffnut and the chair falling backwards, and Tuffnut was again knocked out.

* * *

Securely armoured in Whispering Death scales, Ruffnut and Snotlout took off towards the dock on the neck of Hookfang, who seemed to have worn off the dragon root-laced arrow. Snotlout was hesitant to take his dragon out so soon after being shot but Hookfang wouldn’t hear any of it, almost knocking Snotlout over at the mention of staying on ground. Soaring over the edge of the cliff and just out of the net’s reach, Snotlout and Ruffnut locked their legs and swung under Hookfang, holding onto their quivers and readjusting so they didn’t slip whilst upside down. 

“Hookfang, can you light our arrows?” Snotlout asked as both he and Ruffnut gently pressed the head of an arrow flat against his scales. He obliged, heating up the surface with intense control as to not completely light on fire and give away their location. Nocking the arrows, Ruffnut and Snotlout aimed for the deck of the ship. 

“Can you see anyone on the deck, Snotlout?”

“There’s a black shadow… could that be Toothless?”

“Probably… don’t aim near it in case.”

“Got it. A little lower, Hooky.”

Hookfang descended slightly and gave them a clearer shot of the deck. They let go of the strings, letting the arrows fly and watched them land solidly on the deck. They let a few more go, lighting them on Hookfang’s scales and working quickly to keep the element of surprise. They heard a shout of surprise after they had landed a few arrows each, lighting up the deck and confirming the “shadow” was Toothless, who was still trapped in the net. Ruffnut paled, noticing her brother was not with the dragon.

“We will find him, okay?”

“I know we will- up, Hookfang!”

A net shot up towards them, narrowly missing them as Hookfang shot up out of its reach.

“It’s time to work fast. Hookfang, can you get us to the sail?”

“Wait, what?”

“We’re going to use the sail to get down, Snotlout, keep up.”

“That is crazier than when you start flying upside down, Ruffnut!”

“Well, it’s the only plan we have! Now get out a few arrows and get ready to fall with them!” As Hookfang flew down towards the sail, Ruffnut let go, anchoring onto the thick sail with a bunch of arrows in each hand. A look of shock and horror passed over Snotlout’s face as the arrows broke and she tumbled down, landing hard on the deck. 

* * *

A hard thud woke Tuffnut from his daze, and for the first time he wished he was just dead. The excruciating pain that was flooding his body was so much, too much. A few seconds passed and he realised he was alone, and the thud that woke him wasn’t inflicted on him, but came from above him. He let out the start of a groan before biting it back with a hiss of pain, his ribs broken beneath skin mottled with red and purple, blue and yellow. 

“Help… anyone…”

* * *

Ruffnut landed hard on her side, hissing in pain and rubbing her head. She rolled onto her back, groaning, then realised where she was and stilled.

“Well, that was quite a show. Very entertaining. But I think it’s time we go and see your dear brother now, shall we?” 

Viggo’s rough hand gripped her (thankfully) unbroken arm and dragged her across the deck, despite her kicking and screaming. The screaming seemed to wake Toothless from his sleep, as a few moments later a loud roar was let through the air, soon followed by other distinct dragon calls. He stopped, dropping Ruffnut and ordered his men to take down Toothless, then dropped Ruffnut through the hole to the lower level of the boat and climbed down after her. 


End file.
